That has left manager Zinedine Zidane under increasing pressure but Ronaldo believes Madrid can still make this a memorable season.

“If we can win the Champions League at the end of the year, it will be an incredible year,” he told Chinese football app Dongqiudi after receiving an award at Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground, as reported by Marca.

Madrid’s all-time record goalscorer has not given up on the possibility of mounting a league challenge either.

The defending champions are well adrift of Barca but do have a game in hand — against Leganes — and still have to play their arch-rivals at the Nou Camp.

“We haven’t started well in La Liga and we are disappointed, nobody is happy about that,” he added.

“But now we must work hard for the Champions League because it’s the most important trophy for us.

“It will be difficult in La Liga, but we can’t give up, even if we have dropped many points since the start of the season.

“The only solution is to keep working.”

Madrid became the first club to win back-to-back Champions League titles when they beat Juventus 4-1 in last year’s final but face arguably the toughest last-16 tie possible this term after being drawn against Paris Saint-Germain.